The present invention concerns a filter, in particular for internal combustion engines, for filtering a fluid, in particular air, as well as a filter cartridge, in particular for such a filter.
In particular in construction and agricultural machines, engine air filtration is becoming more and more important. On the one hand, more and more efficient air filters are used because higher engine performances and stricter emissions standards require an increased air throughput through the engine. On the other hand, the number of component groups that are installed by default, such as air-conditioning devices, increases. This reduces the available installation space in the vehicle. Finally, there is the desire to design vehicles smaller and more lightweight which also is done at the expense of the available installation space.
For use in vehicles that provide little installation space for filtration purposes, in general so-called compact air filters or Z-filters with alternatingly closed channels that can be flowed though inline and that are formed by corrugated and flat layers of a filter medium positioned on top of each other are employed. This means that the inflow direction and the outflow direction extend parallel and substantially are aligned with each other. Often, the air which is flowing out of the air filter, depending on the application situation, must be deflected after having flowed through the filter. For this purpose, for example, a pipe elbow can be connected downstream to the filter housing. However, such downstream components increase again the required installation space of the entire arrangement.
It is an object of the invention to provide a filter, in particular for internal combustion engines, for filtering a fluid, in particular air, that requires less installation space for identical filter performance.
The aforementioned object is solved respectively by different aspects of the embodiments of a filter to be described in the following, in particular for internal combustion engines, for filtering a fluid, in particular air, as well as a filter cartridge, in particular for such a filter. As can be seen in the embodiments, the different aspects can be provided advantageously individually or combined in embodiments wherein, in case of combination, individual aspects enhance the advantages of other aspects and a synergistic interaction leads to an advantageous product.